This 43-minute documentary follows Lisa Ling as she travels to China with American families who are adopting Chinese baby girls. Along the journey she explains China's one child per family rule, and how sons are preferred over daughters. She goes on to add some of the unintentional effects of these two issues; such as the disparity in the number of boys to girls, boys being raised as spoiled little emperors, the high number of girls in orphanages, abandoned babies, aborted pregnancies, and a growing rate of obese youth.
Ling also shares interviews with the American families who travel to China to adopt these babied and bring them home to the states, and many moment are emotional and tear jerking. It was wonderful to see these families so full of love and joy as they met their new daughters for the first time. Knowing that these little babies will go on to lead a better life in which they are fed, cared for, and wanted made the reality of the situation in China a little easier to bear.
But the documentary shed light on darker images too, such as a baby that was abandoned in a park for days before it was found. Ling and the American family that adopted that baby displayed a poster in that very same park with pictures of the baby when she was found and pictures of her from present day. The poster caused quite a stir in the park and it sparked a conversation between the local Chinese residents and the American family. In general, the reaction from most of the Chinese was that of sadness and shame.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching this documentary and learning about this topic.
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China's Lost Girls
07/24/2013 01:37 PM
#1
China's Lost Girls
This sounds like a great film. I enjoyed reading your post. I have a girl in my class this year that was adopted from China. Her family (mom, dad, sister and brother) flew over to China to visit the orphanage where she lived. She shared with our class this past week about how her family chose her. I got teary eyed when she told us about it.
When I think of her life now compared to what it might have been if she had stayed in the orphanage I just feel amazed. There is such a stark contrast to what her situation is now and what it might have been. She is such a sweet, happy girl and I am so glad she is having the opportunity to live with the family that chose her. Her parents have great parenting skills and are keeping her in touch with her Chinese culture. Stories like these make me want to go and adopt a girl from China too! I admire the families that adopt children so much!
This sounds like the perfect film to use to discuss China's one child per family policy. I also like the fact that it's a documentary, and that I can have my students analyze it as if were an expository text. Thank you!
I saw this film and thought it was great. It follows a group of Americans who are going to pick up their children. It also examines the root causes as well as dire consequences of the gender imbalance. It is accessible for students from middle to high school.
I'd really like to see this film. I am very interested in this topic. I once watched a documentary that showed how many young boys are often kidnapped to sell to rich families that want boys, and ever since I've been captivated by this policy and the effects of it. The show VICE on HBO just did a documentary on this as well. The last lecture of our class, Clay informed us that this actually turned out to be an unnecessary policy. Sad to think it was unnecessary, because it seems to have a lot of negative consequences.
This year I had my students do independent research projects. Many students were interested in researching the Family Planning Policy in China. I wish I had known about this film at the time! I'll definitely take a look at it and recommend it to next year's students if they decide to focus on this topic for their research.
I saw this film and I thought it was very interesting. There are many parents in China who are forced to give away their babies, if they are not born male. Although many parents may agree to this because they feel as if they have to abide to the laws of China and their one child policy, many parents are heartbroken at the thought of giving up their first born. As a result of this, many baby girls are left for adoption and live in orphanages, waiting for someone to adopt them. The film also covers the stories of parents who travel to China in hopes of adopting a new daughter. This is a very heartwarming documentary and a must see. Thank you for sharing about this film.
I am some one who researched adopting in China as an option. This is a very arduous process now. There are of course a lot of complicated issues when one is adopting internationally. It is heartbreaking to think of how many people decided to abandon their children either through economic necessity, or the one child policy. It is also amazing to think about how many families have been created through this adoption process.